West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday announced that the state had received a sanction of more than Rs 3,000 crore from the Centre in the current financial year for revamping the public healthcare sector and implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
Addressing a virtual press conference from Nabanna after an hour-long meeting with Union Health Minister JP Nadda, Adhikari said the Centre had sanctioned Rs 2,103 crore under the National Health Mission (NHM), of which Rs 500 crore had already been transferred to the state.
He added that the Centre had also allocated its share of Rs 976 crore for the Ayushman Bharat scheme during the current fiscal.
“In all, we have received a sanction of over Rs 3,000 crore, of which we have already received Rs 500 crore,” Adhikari said.
The chief minister said the distribution of Ayushman Bharat cards in the state was likely to begin from July, with enrolment work already underway.
According to Adhikari, around six crore beneficiaries holding Swasthya Sathi cards issued during the previous Trinamool Congress government would be brought under the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the first phase.
He added that opportunities would also be provided to fresh applicants who were not covered under the earlier state health insurance scheme.
The chief minister said the state government was planning to sign an agreement with the Centre in Delhi during the first week of June for inclusion in the Ayushman Arogya Mandir network.
The move, he said, would help extend Ayushman Bharat benefits to migrant residents of West Bengal living outside the state for work or education.
“Over one crore migrants from Bengal stay outside the state for work or education purposes,” Adhikari said, adding that the agreement would ensure healthcare coverage for them as well.
The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana provides health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation.
Adhikari also announced a major recruitment drive in the healthcare sector, including the appointment of doctors, nurses and healthcare workers in state-run medical facilities.
“The recruitment rate in this area by the previous government was abysmally low,” he alleged, adding that vacancies would be filled within the next three months through a transparent recruitment process.
He also accused the previous Mamata Banerjee-led government of maintaining a confrontational approach towards the Centre, which he claimed deprived people of the benefits of several Central schemes.
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